Here's the story: For Christmas I would like to get my mother a knife that we used to have, but it disappeared when we moved. She always called it a "lobster knife", which is not something I've been able to locate. It's basically a very large, weighted chef knife that could be used to cleave a lobster from head to tail in one clean chop. The shape was like a 12"-15" German Chef's knife and it was weighted to the handle to allow a clean chop. I have been searching for anything even close, but haven't found anything resembling it. The weight of the knife makes me think it may have been more of a cleaver, as it wasn't made for delicate slicing. It had the classic Wusthof-looking wooden handle with the silver insets, but I don't know who made it. I'm hoping that anyone will know what I'm talking about. She had once told me that it costs about $400, but it's old and may be even more, so I may not even be able to afford one, but I'd at least like to try and find it.

At a good cutlery shop, you can special order a Wusthof 14" WIDE blade chef knife. The blade is both WIDE and THICK. It costs about $400. I have held it, and it is big and heavy. I just couldn't bring myself to cough up $400 for it. (Anyone I know would only embarrass me if they saw me wielding that knife anyway.) I have the Wusthof 12" regular chef knife that is heavy and has a good feel to it, but if the heavy 14" is what she wants, the 12" isn't going to cut it. (sorry for the pun) The 12" that I have can be used very easily for bisecting live lobsters for broiling or grilling. Wusthof also has a 12" WIDE blade chef knife. The ones designated WIDE, cost considerably more than the regular width chef knives.

Personally, I would suggest you look for a Tojiro DP Western Deba, it's like a really thick and heavy chef's knife thats used to cut through fish and chicken bones. I would estimate it costing around $150.

I bought a 300mm (12") Tojiro DP Gyuto (chef's knife) for $90 and it could probably handle lobsters shells, but it's meant for meat and veg prep. I wouldn't trust my mother with something that big and that sharp anyway.

If I had to choose a knife to use for cleaving lobster's in half, it would be my TFS cleaver, it's sharp enough to debone chicken, and than tough enough to chop the bony carcass for stock.

Here's the story: For Christmas I would like to get my mother a knife that we used to have, but it disappeared when we moved. She always called it a "lobster knife", which is not something I've been able to locate. It's basically a very large, weighted chef knife that could be used to cleave a lobster from head to tail in one clean chop. The shape was like a 12"-15" German Chef's knife and it was weighted to the handle to allow a clean chop. I have been searching for anything even close, but haven't found anything resembling it. The weight of the knife makes me think it may have been more of a cleaver, as it wasn't made for delicate slicing. It had the classic Wusthof-looking wooden handle with the silver insets, but I don't know who made it. I'm hoping that anyone will know what I'm talking about. She had once told me that it costs about $400, but it's old and may be even more, so I may not even be able to afford one, but I'd at least like to try and find it.

Hay,

Visit ebay and search for a seller, ralph1396. If anyone is going to have something like that, it'd be him. Plus, you can send him a message and ask him about this "lobster knife". He must be in his late 70's by now and surely would have heard of such a thing.

Thanks for all the help guys. I think it may have been an older 12" or 14" Wusthof after seeing those. I appreciate all the help. I know it's probably not the best tool for the job, but it's more for sentimental reasons that I wanted to get it. Thanks again guys and have a good holiday.

The Kershaw Wasabi 8 1/2" Deba is what I use for "Heavy" stuff,Lobster,quartering chicken,cutting up half frozen meat. It's a single edge Aisian style and can be both sharp and tough. If I was doing Lobster a lot, I'd get the regular Forschner 12" at around $40 rather than the Lobster Knife at closer to $140.

The usual method we'd used for lobster was to stick the point in at the neck and then swing the handle down,which gives a straight,centered cut you can pull the meat out from. We generally poached the tails atop the shell and served them like that. A cleaver lacks the point and the length (leverage)

A rather large Deba, at least 8" is okay.

To me a Tojiro DP is more of a precision tool,The very hard steel used allows a great edge but Hard=Brittle (to some degree). A slightly "softer" steel is typically tougher...won't chip. I never chipped my 10" Forschner in 30 years in commercial kitchens.